No Solitaire
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day twenty-one: Will and Emma share a musical moment...


_Hiatus is over, it's GLEE DAY!!! Here's the last of the gleekathon ficlets... But, because I'm crazy, it's not over, I wanna see how long I can keep it up :D See you tomorrow! ;) In the meantime, you can celebrate the return of Glee by going back and reading the ones you missed ;)_

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**"No Solitaire"  
Will/Emma**

Emma had finally left her office and was now moving toward the exit when she passed the auditorium and heard the muted sounds of a piano. Taken by curiosity, she moved to open the door. The sound was clearer now. Looking down to the stage, she recognized Will, sitting at the piano.

He looked distracted. Instincts first told her to leave him be, just go home and forget it… but the pull was too strong. She had to find out if something was wrong with him. Maybe she could even help him.

She didn't want to just sneak up on him, so she let the door shut on its own and make its resounding click. Will stopped playing and looked up. She waved as she started down the aisle to the stage. He smiled and waved back. She'd already gotten him smiling, so clearly she'd been right not to just leave.

"Late night?" she asked as she got nearer. He stood from the bench.

"I just needed some time to think," he explained, as she reached the steps to the stage.

"Need some company?" she offered.

"You? Always," he smiled. Her cheeks felt flushed, but she wasn't going to draw his attention to it.

Will sat back down on the piano bench, facing away from the instrument and toward Emma instead. He patted the free half of the bench and she came to sit at his side.

"Is it your problems with your wife, or…" she opened after a moment.

"No," he shook his head, though Emma could tell there were parts of that which were bothering him as well. "It's this whole… situation with Quinn Fabray, I... Now Sue's found out, and I'm getting this knot in the pit of my stomach like she's the one who let it out for everyone to know."

"I think at this point nothing could shock me about the levels Sue Sylvester will lower herself to." That got a chuckle out of Will. "Is Quinn okay?"

"She will be, I think. The other Glee kids have been really supportive of her, I…"

"You're proud of them," she smiled. He nodded, smiling back. "You've been really good to them… and for them."

"Thanks," he looked at her, still with his smile.

Her cheeks were threatening to reach a new shade of red. She turned on the bench, so to face the instrument. She brushed her fingers along the keys, pressing down on one, then another. Will turned his head at the sound. Emma smirked, placing both her hands on the keys.

"I didn't know you played," he turned to face the piano as well. She shrugged.

"I took lessons as a child," she admitted. "Why'd you stop?" Again, she shrugged.

"My teacher moved away and I didn't want a new one." He nodded to the piano, played a few notes. She smiled and played them back. He laughed lightly.

"Well, now I know who to go to if our pianist is ever out sick," he bumped his shoulder to hers.

"Oh, n-no, I… couldn't. It's been too long, I'm not…" Will held his hand up so she'd stop, then put his hands back on the keys.

"Just follow me; it'll come back to you." She seemed to hesitate, so he went ahead and played, choosing something she'd no doubt have worked with in her lessons.

Emma watched for a moment. The music brought her back to afternoons with Miss Lizzy. She was their neighbor and her piano teacher. Miss Lizzy's old piano had fascinated Emma since the first time she'd seen it, when Miss Lizzy was her babysitter.

Almost instinctively, her hands went into place, joining Will in play. Her fingers showed the loss of practice, but still she kept up, which brought an impressed smile out of Will and hiked Emma up another notch on her blushing scale.

When they stopped, Will gave her a quick round of applause. Emma let out a breath.

"See? What did I tell you?"

"I'm so rusty…" she looked to her hands.

"That can be fixed. You could take lessons."

"I don't know, I mean… the time, the money, the…" she shook her head.

"What if I taught you?" he stopped her again.

She blinked. The offer was… it was tempting in so many ways. But it was riddled with complications all the same, the two main ones being in regards to two people… his wife, her fiancé… as harmless as it truly was, it would never look that way to them; she didn't need to think twice about that one.

And yes, it was harmless… but that could change. She knew how she felt for him… she liked to think she knew how he felt about her… But to get it at the price it would cost all of them, including the child he was having…

"Come on, what do you say?" he gave her a tempting smile… so very tempting…

"I… I'll think about it," she nodded.

"Fair enough…" he nodded approvingly as he looked back to the keys. Emma did the same. Innocently, she played a couple of notes. Will smiled to himself, which made her smirk. "Okay," he sat up, looking at her for an instant.

"Okay what?" she blinked.

"Follow my lead. Think you can do that?" he asked. She breathed out and nodded as she sat up straight the way he did. Her eyes went to the side, watching as he thought of a song. When his face lit up with an idea, she looked back ahead, down to their hands on the keys.

Will started to play, and she had to grin as she recognized the song. It took a moment for her to get a handle on the notes; for a while her fingers moved from key to key, just an inch above them. The 'prep play' seemed to amuse Will, though Emma didn't see.

Finally, she went from playing in the air to producing the notes to turn Will's solo into a duet. Emma just made sure she could keep up with Will at first. After a bit of play though, she relaxed and got more comfortable in playing. Seeing this, Will (W) nodded and went into the lyrics.

(W) "_There's a saying old / says that love is blind / still we're often told / 'seek and ye shall find' / so I'm going to seek a certain girl I've had in mind."_

Emma felt a confidence there, and as Will was about to start again, it was Emma (E) who took the words, much to his enchantment.

(E) "_Looking everywhere / haven't found him yet / he's the big affair / I cannot forget / only man I ever think of / with regret."_

As her couplet ended, she couldn't help stealing a glance. Will went on.

(W) "_I'd like to add her initials to my monogram / tell me where is the shepherdess / for this lost lamb."_

The further they went, the more they retreated into their own bubbles.

"_There's a somebody I'm longing to see /  
__(E) I hope that he /  
__(W) turns out to be /  
__Someone who'll watch over me."_

(E) "_I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood / I know I could / always be good / to one who'll watch over me."_

(W) "_Although I may not be the man some girls think of / as handsome / to her heart / I carry the key."_

Neither was looking at the other at this point… they didn't need to; they felt it.

(E) "_Won't you tell him please to put on some speed /  
__(W) follow my lead /  
__Oh how I need /  
__Someone to watch over me / someone to watch over me."_

Emma's hands rested on the keys as Will drew the song to a close. The silence, absent for a few minutes now, was made much heavier as the pair waited, knowing what had to be said and done.

"I can't do lessons." Neither met the other's eye.

"I know," he spoke slowly.

"I liked playing again though," she managed to smile. He did too.

"You should still keep at it."

"Yeah… Maybe," she nodded. "I should go." He didn't speak. "I'll see you tomorrow." She got up, moving around the bench, heading off the stage. Silence was only broken by the soft sound of her shoes as she moved up the aisle. As she opened the door, she heard the piano playing softly again. She would have kept its tune a duet if only she could. For now, it was a solo.

THE END


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